Six months into 2021 and Saudi petchems giant Sabic has already made its largest annual profit in three years. With industry figures still optimistic on the near-term trajectory of the sector, the firm looks set to overhaul its recent high of $5.7bn in 2018.

In its preliminary Q2 results, Sabic announced quarterly profits of $2.04bn, which is by far the largest quarterly figure in more than five years. This was driven primarily by revenues of $11.3bn, which was the largest quarterly figure since 3Q 2018’s $11.7bn (see chart). (CONTINUED - 207 WORDS)